Printing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An image printing apparatus which enables an appropriate operation in accordance with a user&#39;s judgment even when printing operation is halted due to no ink residue. After the printing operation is halted due to running out of ink residue, the user judges whether or not a page, where printing operation is performed at the time of detection of no ink residue, is to be printed again, or to delete the image data corresponding to the printed page from an image memory. If any subsequent printing operation is necessary, an ink cartridge is exchanged and the printing operation is resumed. Ink residue detection is performed for the resumed printing operation, and image data is deleted or maintained according to the detected result.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Present invention relates to a printing apparatus and, moreparticularly, to a printing apparatus such as a facsimile apparatushaving a printing unit which performs printing in accordance with aninkjet printing method.

Conventionally, a printing apparatus which utilizes an inkjet printingmethod or a facsimile apparatus having such printing apparatus as itsprinting unit employs an exchangeable ink cartridge integrating aprinthead as well as an ink tank, and a standard-size cut sheet as aprint sheet.

Further, in the conventional facsimile apparatus, in order to handle asituation where ink runs out during image reception, residue of ink isdetected each time a page of received image is outputted, and it iscontrolled such that the received image data is maintained in an imagememory when there is no residual ink.

In the above conventional example, however, a user of the apparatus hasto output the image stored in the image memory by manual operation.Since the stored image data is not deleted from a memory unless theimage is outputted, the user might have to output unnecessary receivedimage data together with necessary data for deleting the data from thememory.

Even in a case of a printing apparatus comprising a function fordeleting received image data, all image data of the page where it isdetermined to have no ink residue is deleted along with those includedin the subsequent pages. Therefore, it is not friendly in view of user'soperability and availability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in consideration of the abovesituation, and it is an object of the present invention to provide aprinting apparatus which can appropriately handle a case where ink ofthe apparatus runs out, by judgment and operation of a user.

According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained byproviding an image printing apparatus for printing an image usingprinting means in which a printhead discharges ink on a recordingmedium, comprising: storing means for storing image data received via acommunication line; a removable ink cartridge for storing the ink;determining means for determining whether or not there is ink residue insaid ink cartridge; control means for controlling such that when saiddetermining means determines that there is no residual ink duringprinting of the received image data by said printing means, the printingoperation is halted, and the image data corresponding to a page where itis determined by said determining means that there is no ink residue andimage data corresponding to the subsequent pages are maintained in saidstoring means; selecting means for selecting whether or not image data,corresponding to the page where it is determined by said determiningmeans that there is no ink residue, maintained by said storing means isto be deleted; deleting means for deleting the image data, correspondingto the page selected by said selecting means, from said storing means;and print control means for controlling said printing means to outputthe image data maintained by said storing means.

In accordance with the present invention as described above, when it isdetected that there is no residual ink in a removable ink cartridgewhich stores ink, while image data received via a communication line isprinted by an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus,which comprises printing means for printing image data on a printingmedium by discharging ink from a printhead, it is possible to terminatethe printing operation and store image data corresponding to thecurrently-printing page as well as the page thereafter in storing means,and to instruct as such that the stored image data be deleted from thestoring means or output the image data.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an imageprocessing controller which can handle a situation by judgment made by auser of the apparatus, when ink runs out.

The foregoing object is attained by providing an image processingcontroller for controlling printing means in which a printheaddischarges ink from a detachable ink cartridge on a recording medium,comprising: storing means for storing image data; determining means fordetermining whether or not there is ink residue in said ink cartridge;control means for controlling such that when said determining meansdetermines that there is no residual ink during printing of the receivedimage data by said printing means, the printing operation is halted, andthe image data corresponding to a page where it is determined by saiddetermining means that there is no ink residue and image datacorresponding to the subsequent pages are maintained in said storingmeans; selecting means for selecting whether or not image data,corresponding to the page where it is determined by said determiningmeans that there is no ink residue, maintained by said storing means isto be deleted; deleting means for deleting the image data, correspondingto the page selected by said selecting means, from said storing means;and print control means for controlling said printing means to outputthe image data maintained by said storing means.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an imageprinting control method capable of handling a situation where ink runsout by judgment made by a user of an apparatus.

The foregoing object is attained by providing an image printing controlmethod of controlling printing operation in which a printhead dischargesink from a detachable ink cartridge on a recording medium, comprising: astoring step of storing image data in a storage medium; a determiningstep of determining whether or not there is ink residue in the inkcartridge; a control step of controlling such that when it is determinedin said determining step that there is no residual ink during printingoperation utilizing the image data, the printing operation is halted,and the image data corresponding to a page where it is determined insaid determining step that there is no ink residue and image datacorresponding to the subsequent pages are maintained in the storagemedium; a selecting step of selecting whether or not image data,corresponding to the page where it is determined in said determiningstep that there is no ink residue, maintained in said storing medium isto be deleted; a deleting step of deleting the image data, correspondingto the page selected in said selecting step, from the storage medium;and a print control step of controlling the printing operation to outputthe image data maintained in the storage medium.

The invention is particularly advantageous since it is possible toperform output control and storing control of image data of whichprinting is interrupted due to no ink residue, in accordance withjudgment made by a user of an apparatus.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing a structure of a facsimileapparatus, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a general view showing a peripheral structure of a printhead;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of afacsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart describing printing operation of received data andcontrol thereof; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart describing output operation of received data bymanual operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described indetail in accordance with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing a structure of a facsimileapparatus which is a typical embodiment of the present invention. InFIG. 1, reference portion A denotes a reading unit for optically readingan original image; B, a printer unit having a printhead which performsprinting operation according to an inkjet printing method and an inktank which supplies ink to the printhead; and C, a paper feed unit forseparately supplying a cut-sheet as a print sheet loaded in a cassetteone by one to the printer unit B. The printhead and ink tankintegratedly construct an exchangeable ink cartridge.

In the apparatus having a structure shown in FIG. 1, printing operationon a print sheet is performed in the manner described below. A printsheet 12 loaded in a cassette 50 is picked up by a feeding roller 51 anda separation claw 52, and conveyed by a conveying roller 5 to be fed tothe printer unit B. Then, in the printer unit B, a printhead 21reciprocally scans in a vertical direction of the drawing sheet of FIG.1 and performs printing operation by discharging ink on the print sheet.The scanning direction of the printhead 21 is called main scanningdirection. Each time one scanning of printing operation is completed,the print sheet 12 is conveyed in a direction of an arrow G for a widthof one scanning of the printhead 21. Printing operation proceeds in theabove described manner. When printing operation for the print sheet 12is completed, the print sheet 12 is outputted by a discharging roller 9to a stacker 53 to be stacked.

Note that a photosensor 13 is arranged in the upper portion of thedischarging roller 9. A footer mark printed at the bottom of the printsheet 12 is read by the photosensor 13, and ink residue of an inkcartridge can be determined based upon the printed density.

Further in FIG. 1, reference numeral 22 denotes a conveying roller; and23, a print sheet sensor. Detailed descriptions of the photosensor 13,the conveying roller 22 and the print sheet sensor 23 will be givenlater with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a general view showing a peripheral structure of the printhead21 in the printer unit B. The printhead 21 comprises sixty-four nozzlesarranged in a conveying direction of a print sheet (sub-scanningdirection) shown with an arrow S and discharges ink droplets from anorifice of the nozzle by the pressure of film boiling generated in inkcaused by heat generation of an electrothermal transducer embodied ineach of the nozzles. The printhead 21 is capable of printing with aresolution of 360 dpi.

The conveying roller 22 can convey a print sheet in a sub-scanningdirection with a precision corresponding to a printing resolution of theprinthead 21 at the time of feeding, printing, and discharging the printsheet 12.

FIG. 2 illustrates a state in which the print sheet 12 is conveyed in asub-scanning direction by the conveying roller 22 and reached outside adetection area (the area of oblique lines) of the print sheet sensor 23.In such state, the print sheet sensor 23 is turned "OFF." Meanwhile,when the print sheet 12 is within the detection area of the print sheetsensor 23 on the conveyance path, the print sheet sensor 23 is turned"ON." Therefore, according to the state of "ON" or "OFF" of the printsheet sensor 23, the following can be detected:

(1) whether or not a print sheet is near the printhead 21;

(2) whether or not a top portion of the print sheet 12 is near theprinthead 21; and

(3) whether or not a bottom portion of the print sheet 12 is near theprinthead 21.

The photosensor 13 is a reflection-type photosensor configured with anLED which irradiates light on a print sheet and a photo transistor whichreceives the reflected light. In the portions where an image is printedon a printing sheet, a percentage of an area on which ink is applied ina unit-area of a print sheet (hereinafter referred to as "black arearate") is high; on the other hand, in the portions where no image isprinted in a print sheet, the black area rate is low. Generally, a colorwith a high reflectivity such as white or yellow is used for a printsheet. The reflectivity of ink is low compared to the reflectivity of aprint sheet. Therefore, when light is irradiated from the LED on aprinted print sheet and the reflection light is received with the phototransistor, the reflection light is weak and the photoelectric currentgenerated by the photo transistor is low in the area where an image isprinted, but the reflection light is strong and the photoelectriccurrent generated by the photo transistor is high in the area where noimage is printed.

Note that since the reflectivity or absorptivity varies depending on atype of ink utilized in an apparatus, a wave band of the LED light mustbe selected considering which type of ink is utilized. In the presentembodiment, ink having high absorptivity of red wave-length is utilized;therefore, the LED which irradiates red light is selected. Moreover,since the photosensor 13 must be arranged near the print sheetdischarging portion, taking the apparatus' structure into consideration,it is arranged in a position where external light cannot give anyeffects thereupon. An operation of the photosensor 13 is turned off whenno print sheet 12 exists on the discharging roller 9.

In the apparatus according to the present embodiment, it is controlledsuch that a predetermined pattern of a footer mark is printed at thebottom portion of the print sheet upon completion of printing operationfor each page of the print sheets. Accordingly, after the print sheetsensor 23 detects the bottom portion of the print sheet, the photosensor13 irradiates light on the print sheet at a predetermined timing toexamine an image density of the footer mark. If the image density ishigher than a threshold value, the apparatus judges that the printingoperation for that page is properly completed, and image datacorresponding to that page stored in a memory (which will be describedlater) in the apparatus is deleted. On the contrary, if the imagedensity is lower than the predetermined threshold value, it is judgedthat there is no ink residue. In this case, there is a possibility thatprinting of that page might not be properly completed; therefore, thecorresponding image data is kept in the memory. It is controlled tomaintain also the subsequent received image data in the memory.

Note that when an ink cartridge is exchanged and the printing operationis resumed to print the image data maintained in the memory, a user canarbitrary select whether or not the image data, corresponding to thepage where it is determined to have no ink residue, is to be used.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of thefacsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 101 denotes a main controller comprising anMPU for controlling operations of the entire apparatus; 102, a ROM forstoring various programs to be executed by the MPU, initial value data,table data, font data for TTI or the like; and 103, a RAM utilized as awork area for various processes executed by the MPU, a buffer forstoring images, a line buffer for reading, a line buffer for printing,an area for registering user's information, and an area for storingreceived footers.

Font data for TTI stored in the ROM 102 is the font data for numbers,alphabets, katakana or symbols which are utilized to add originator'sinformation to image data at the time of transmitting the image data.The buffer for storing images allotted to the RAM 103 is utilized forstoring received image data as well as image data not yet outputted, andhereinafter referred to as an image memory. The line buffer for readingis utilized for storing image data which corresponds to four lines ofread image data (equivalent to 1728 pixels (=216 byte) per line in G3standard) generated by reading an original image for facsimiletransmission. The line buffer for printing is utilized for storing imagedata (400 byte×4 lines) corresponding to four lines of image data forprinting.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a communication unit having a modem forimage communication (MODEM) and an NCU or the like; 105, a reading unithaving a contact-type sensor composed of a CCD or the like for readingan image, an LSI dedicated for image processing of the read image, andreading control unit; 106, a converter for converting image data in theform of run-length (RL) decoded by the main controller 101 to data (rawdata) representing information of each pixel; and 107, a printercomplying with an inkjet printing method for performing outputting ofreceived image data, outputting of communication reports which showcommunication management, outputting of copied sheets, or outputting ofimages in accordance with image data sent from an external apparatussuch as a word processor or a personal computer.

Note that the reading unit 105 and the printer 107 mechanicallycorrespond to the reading unit A and the printer unit B in FIG. 1respectively.

Reference numeral 108 denotes an external interface conforming tocentronics, where data is received by external apparatuses beingconnected thereto; 109, a pick-up motor for picking up a placed originalsheets one by one and conveying to the reading unit 105; and 110, anoperation panel having a keyboard which includes a copy key, a printerkey or the like, and an LCD, LED or the like for displaying variousmessages. Reference numeral 111 denotes an ink residue sensor fordetermining whether or not there is residual ink in an ink cartridgeembodied in the printer 107; and 112, a system bus for interconnectingcomponents of the apparatus. Note that the ink residue sensor 111mechanically corresponds to the photosensor 13 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

With the above described configuration, the present apparatus performsvarious functions such as facsimile communication, image reading, imagestoring management, user registration and image printing operation.

Next, a printing operation and a control thereof in image reception of afacsimile according to the apparatus having above described structureare described, with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 4. Note thatthe present apparatus manages received image data which is stored in theimage memory, in a unit of one print sheet. It is assumed in the processdescribed below that image data has been already received by a facsimileapparatus and stored in its image memory.

First, in step S201, printing operation is performed for one page ofprint sheet, and in step S202 ink residue in the ink cartridge isexamined utilizing the ink residue sensor 111. If it is judged thatthere is residual ink, the processing proceeds to step S203 where theimage data corresponding to the page where printing has been justcompleted in step S201 is deleted. The processing then proceeds to stepS204 where it is determined whether or not there is any received imagedata to be printed in a following page. If it is determined that thereis no image data for the following page, the processing ends; however ifit is determined that there is image data for the following page, theprocessing returns to step S201 and the printing operation is performedon the subject page.

As set forth above, the unit of deleting image data is one page in thepresent apparatus.

Meanwhile, if it is judged that there is no residual ink in step S202,the processing proceeds to step S205 where the received image data forthe page in which printing has been executed in step S201 is maintainedin the image memory, then a warning message "no ink" is displayed in theLCD of the operation panel 110 in step S206, the LED is lit or blinked,and the processing ends. The warning message can include not only the"no ink" message but also additional information such as pages of imagedata currently stored in the image memory.

Accordingly, as a result of the "no ink" warning where it is judged thatthe printing operation cannot be normally performed, the received datastored in the image memory in step S205 is determined to be non-printedreceived data of the page where "no ink" is determined during theprinting operation, along with the subsequent pages, if any.

In the above described control, the ink residue sensor 111 determines"no ink" after printing operation for one page is completed; in otherwords, the printing operation continues until the end of the page, andwhen printing of the page is completed, the printing operation for thesubsequent pages is terminated.

Accordingly, even if the timing at which the ink residue actually runsout is in the middle of printing a page, the printing operation of thatpage continues; therefore, the image data included in the page isprinted and also maintained in the image memory. In practice, it isindeterminate that at which portion of a page the ink in the inkcartridge runs out. If the ink runs out at the top of the page, theoutput of the page is white for most part, but if the ink runs out atthe bottom of the page, outputting of the page is almost complete.Accordingly, depending on the printing result, the printed image may beactually usable as image data.

Depending on the content of the warning message displayed in the LCD andthe result of the outputted printed image, a user of the apparatus canoutput the image data by manual operation as shown in the flowchart inFIG. 5. Hereinafter, descriptions are given for a case where "no ink" isdetected at the n-th page.

In step S301, it is judged whether or not received data in the n-th pagestored in the image memory is to be deleted. The judgment relies uponthe user of the apparatus. When the user judges that the received datais not to be deleted, the processing proceeds to step S302 where it isselected whether or not the n-th page is to be printed again. Theselection also relies upon the user's decision. When the user selectsthat the n-th page is to be printed again, the processing proceeds tostep S303 where an ink cartridge is exchanged by a user, then proceedsto step S304. Meanwhile, if the user selects not to print the n-th pageagain, the processing returns to step S301.

When it is judged that the received data in the n-th page stored in theimage memory is to be deleted in step S301, the processing proceeds tostep S310 where the received data in the n-th page is deleted. Thedeleting operation is actualized by the user from the operation panel110 by operating a keyboard according to a message displayed in the LCD.In the next step S311, it is judged whether or not any subsequentreceived data (that is, the (n+1)th page) exists, and if there is noexisting data in the image memory, the processing ends. If there isexisting data, the processing proceeds to step S312 where a value of aprinting page counter (CNT), which is set in the RAM 103 for printingcontrol, is incremented (+1) and the processing proceeds to step S303.As set forth above, in step S303, an ink cartridge is exchanged. In thismanner, it is possible to control such that printing operation cannot beresumed unless an ink cartridge is exchanged, preventing the data to beerroneously deleted from the image memory, when the image memorycontains image data not yet printed.

Next in step S304, the image data in the n-th page or (n+1)th page isprinted. In the following step S305, it is determined whether or not "noink" has been detected after the printing operation of step S304. If "noink" is detected, the processing proceeds to step S309 where the imagedata of the page on which printing has been performed in step S304 andthe subsequent pages, if any exist, are maintained in the image memory,and the process ends. Meanwhile, if it is detected that there isresidual ink, the processing proceeds to step S306 where the n-th pageor the (n+1)th page of the image data is deleted from the image memory.The deleting operation is identical to the operation in step S310.

As set forth above, the reason that ink residual determination isperformed again in step S305 is to detect erroneous setting of an oldempty ink cartridge, while a newly-set ink cartridge set in step S303 isexpected to have enough residual ink therein.

In the next step S307, it is determined whether or not there is anyreceived data following the deleted page, and if there is no receiveddata, the processing ends. If there is subsequent data exists, the valueof the printing page counter (CNT) is incremented (+1) in step S308 andthe processing returns to step S304.

According to the present embodiment, even when a printing operation isinterrupted due to running out of ink, a user can control outputting anddeleting of image data by referring to the printed sheet and a displayedwarning message, utilizing image data stored in the image memory.

Note that in the present embodiment, ensuing printing operation isinterrupted and image data following the page where it is determined tohave no ink residue is maintained in accordance with the determinationof no ink residue. It is also possible to maintain the image data whenpaper jam is detected during printing operation. In this case, adetection sensor for detecting paper jam or any equivalent mechanism isnecessary in a printer.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the case whereoutputting and deleting of image data in which no ink residue isdetected is performed as described in the above embodiment, but may alsoinclude the conventional function where image data stored in the imagememory is deleted altogether.

The embodiment described above has exemplified a printer, whichcomprises means (e.g., an electrothermal transducer, laser beamgenerator, and the like) for generating heat energy as energy utilizedupon execution of ink discharge, and causes a change in state of an inkby the heat energy, among the ink-jet printers. According to thisink-jet printer and printing method, a high-density, high-precisionprinting operation can be attained.

As the typical arrangement and principle of the ink-jet printing system,one practiced by use of the basic principle disclosed in, for example,U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796 is preferable. The above systemis applicable to either one of so-called an on-demand type and acontinuous type. Particularly, in the case of the on-demand type, thesystem is effective because, by applying at least one driving signal,which corresponds to printing information and gives a rapid temperaturerise exceeding film boiling, to each of electrothermal transducersarranged in correspondence with a sheet or liquid channels holding aliquid (ink), heat energy is generated by the electrothermal transducerto effect film boiling on the heat acting surface of the printhead, andconsequently, a bubble can be formed in the liquid (ink) in one-to-onecorrespondence with the driving signal. By discharging the liquid (ink)through a discharge opening by growth and shrinkage of the bubble, atleast one droplet is formed. If the driving signal is applied as a pulsesignal, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble can be attained instantlyand adequately to achieve discharge of the liquid (ink) with theparticularly high response characteristics.

As the pulse driving signal, signals disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Note that further excellentprinting can be performed by using the conditions described in U.S. Pat.No. 4,313,124 of the invention which relates to the temperature riserate of the heat acting surface.

As an arrangement of the printhead, in addition to the arrangement as acombination of discharge nozzles, liquid channels, and electrothermaltransducers (linear liquid channels or right angle liquid channels) asdisclosed in the above specifications, the arrangement using U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,558,333 and 4,459,600, which disclose the arrangement having aheat acting surface arranged in a flexed region may be also included inthe present invention. In addition, the present invention can beeffectively applied to an arrangement based on Japanese Patent Laid-OpenNo. 59-123670 which discloses the arrangement using a slot common to aplurality of electrothermal transducers as a discharge portion of theelectrothermal transducers, or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-138461which discloses the arrangement having an opening for absorbing apressure wave of heat energy in correspondence with a discharge portion.

In addition, an exchangeable chip type printhead, which can beelectrically connected to the apparatus main unit and can receive an inkfrom the apparatus main unit upon being mounted on the apparatus mainunit is applicable to the present invention.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminaryauxiliary means, and the like provided as an arrangement of the printerof the present invention, since the printing operation can be furtherstabilized. Examples of such means include, for the printhead, cappingmeans, cleaning means, pressurization or suction means, and preliminaryheating means using electrothermal transducers, another heating element,or a combination thereof. It is also effective for stable printing toprovide a preliminary discharge mode which performs dischargeindependently of printing.

Furthermore, as a printing mode of the printer, not only a printing modeusing only a primary color such as black or the like, but also at leastone of a multi-color mode using a plurality of different colors or afull-color mode achieved by color mixing can be implemented in theprinter either by using an integrated printhead or by combining aplurality of printheads.

Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, itis assumed that the ink is liquid. Alternatively, the present inventionmay employ an ink which is solid at room temperature or less, or an inkwhich softens or liquefies at room temperature, or an ink whichliquefies upon application of a printing signal, since it is a generalpractice to perform temperature control of the ink itself within a rangefrom 30° C. to 70° C. in the ink-jet printing method, so that the inkviscosity will fall within a stable discharge range.

In addition, in order to prevent a temperature rise caused by heatenergy by positively utilizing it as energy for causing a change instate of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to preventevaporation of the ink, an ink which is solid in a non-use state andliquefies upon heating may be used. In any case, an ink which liquefiesupon application of heat energy according to a printing signal and isdischarged in a liquid state, an ink which begins to solidify when itreaches a printing medium, or the like, is applicable to the presentinvention. In this case, an ink may be situated opposite toelectrothermal transducers while being held in a liquid or solid statein recess portions of a porous sheet or through holes, as described inJapanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-56847 or 60-71260. In the presentinvention, the above-mentioned film boiling system is most effective forthe above-mentioned inks.

In addition, the printing apparatus of the present invention may be usedin the form of a copying machine combined with a reader, and the like,in addition to an image output terminal of an information processingequipment arranged integrally or separately, such as a computer.

The present invention can be applied to a system constituted by aplurality of devices, or to an apparatus comprising a single device.Furthermore, it goes without saying that the invention is applicablealso to a case where the object of the invention is attained bysupplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present inventioncan be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it isto be understood that the inventions not limited to the specificembodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image printing apparatus for printing an imageusing printing means in which a printhead discharges ink on a recordingmedium, comprising:storing means for storing image data received via acommunication line, said storing means storing image data in units ofone page; determining means for determining whether ink has beenexhausted; control means for controlling such that in response to adetermination by said determining means that ink has been exhausted, aprinting operation is halted after completion of printing of image datafor a current page, and the image data corresponding to the current pageand image data corresponding to subsequent pages are maintained in saidstoring means; selecting means for selecting whether or not image datacorresponding to only the current page maintained by said storing meansis to be deleted; deleting means for deleting only the image datacorresponding to the current page selected by said selecting means fromsaid storing means; and print control means for controlling saidprinting means to output the image data maintained by said storingmeans.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising:instructing means for instructing whether or not printingoperation is to be performed again utilizing the image datacorresponding to the current page, where it is determined by saiddetermining means that there is ink exhaustion, which has been stored bysaid storing means.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein saidprint control means controls said printing means in accordance with theinstruction from said instructing means.
 4. The apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising notifying means for giving a user of theapparatus a warning when it is determined to have no ink by saiddetermining means.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein saidnotifying means includes:display means for displaying the warning as amessage; and clarifying means for clarifying the warning by turning onor blinking a light.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising,automatic deleting means for automatically deleting imagedata, corresponding to said image printing, from said storing meansevery time one page of image printing is completed in image printingutilizing the received image data by said printing means.
 7. Theapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:a detachable inkcartride for storing the ink; and detection means for detecting whetheror not there is ink residue in said ink cartridge.
 8. The apparatusaccording to claim 7, wherein after the printing operation is halted bysaid control means, printing operation is resumed upon exchange of saidink cartridge.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprisingdetermining control means for controlling said determining means toagain perform determination of ink residue after the printing operationwhich has been resumed is completed for one page.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the printhead is for discharging inkutilizing heat energy, and comprises heat energy transducers forgenerating heat energy to be provided to ink.
 11. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said image printing apparatus includes afacsimile apparatus.
 12. An image processing controller for controllingprinting means in which a printhead discharges ink on a recordingmedium, comprising:storing means for storing image data in units of onepage; determining means for determining whether ink has been exhausted;control means for controlling such that in response to a determinationby said determining means that ink has been exhausted, a printingoperation is halted after completion of printing of image data for acurrent page, and the image data corresponding to the current page andimage data corresponding to subsequent pages are maintained in saidstoring means; selecting means for selecting whether or not image datacorresponding to only the current page maintained by said storing meansis to be deleted; deleting means for deleting the image datacorresponding to the current page selected by said selecting means fromsaid storing means; and print control means for controlling saidprinting means to output the image data maintained by said storingmeans.
 13. The controller according to claim 12, furthercomprising:instructing means for instructing whether or not printingoperation is to be performed again utilizing the image datacorresponding to the current page, where it is determined by saiddetermining means that there is ink exhaustion which has been stored bysaid storing means.
 14. The controller according to claim 12, whereinsaid print control means controls said printing means in accordance withthe instruction from said instructing means.
 15. The controlleraccording to claim 12, further comprising notifying means for giving auser of the apparatus a warning when it is determined to have no ink bysaid determining means.
 16. The controller according to claim 15,wherein said notifying means includes:display means for displaying thewarning as a message; and clarifying means for clarifying the warning byturning on or blinking a light.
 17. The controller according to claim12, further comprising,automatic deleting means for automaticallydeleting image data, corresponding to said image printing, from saidstoring means every time one page of image printing is completed inimage printing utilizing the image data by said printing means.
 18. Thecontroller according to claim 12, further comprising:a detachable inkcartridge for storing the ink; and detection means for detecting whetheror not there is ink residue in said ink cartrige.
 19. The controlleraccording to claim 18, wherein after the printing operation is halted bysaid control means, printing operation is resumed upon exchange of saidink cartridge.
 20. The controller according to claim 19, furthercomprising determining control means for controlling said determiningmeans to again perform determination of ink residue after the printingoperation which has been resumed is completed for one page.
 21. Thecontroller according to claim 12, wherein the printhead is fordischarging ink utilizing heat energy, and comprises heat energytransducers for generating heat energy to be provided to ink.
 22. Animage printing control method of controlling printing operation in whicha printhead discharges ink on a recording medium, comprising:a storingstep of storing image data in units of one page in a storage medium; adetermining step of determining whether ink has been exhausted; acontrol step of controlling such that in response to a determiniation insaid determining step that ink has been exhausted, a printing operationis halted after completion of printing of image data for a current page,and the image data corrsponding to the current page and image datacorresponding to subsequent pages are maintained in the storage medium;a selecting step of selecting whether or not image data corresponding toonly the current page maintained in said storing medium is to bedeleted; a deleting step of deleting only the image data correspondingto the current page selected in said selecting step from the storagemedium; and a print control step of controlling the printing operationto output the imae data maintained in the storage medium.
 23. The methodaccording to claim 22, wherein the ink is supplied from a detachable inkcartridge, and further comprising a detecting step of detecting whetheror not there is ink residue in the ink cartridge.